Jim Berry, senior adult pastor at Berean Baptist Church, doesn’t believe in coincidence, so when he received two phone calls 14 years ago that went hand-in-hand, he thought, “God must be up to something.”
“I received a phone call from somebody in the church who said that they were giving [a household item] away and wanted to see if I knew anybody that needed it. Within a couple of days, somebody else within the church called and said they needed something and it was the exact same item,” Berry described.
Those two phone calls sparked the formation of the Berean Baptist Church Furniture Ministry, which has helped provide household items to hundreds of people in need over the years.
“It was a total God thing,” Berry said of the ministry’s beginning. As the word got out, Berean church members began donating more and more household items, which were then delivered to people across the county. The influx of donations necessitated a larger space for housing the items.
At first, the donations were stored at Berean and then at a church member’s garage. “And then, another man at the church worked at a company that was renting space in the old Westinghouse building before it was torn down, and he talked to his boss who ended up giving us a section in there, which we quickly filled up,” Berry said.
He continued, saying that the company later moved from that location, and so the ministry needed to remove all of the items from the building. What happened next was another, “God thing,” he said. “At just almost to the day that we had to be out of there, the City of Mansfield gave us a warehouse for free, so we simply loaded stuff up and started bringing it over there,” he said.
Since moving into the warehouse in downtown Mansfield about three years ago, the ministry has grown exponentially. The warehouse is filled with rows upon rows upon rows of furniture, appliances and other household items. Berry estimated there are thousands of items.
Ken Giesige, furniture ministry coordinator, said that Berean sometimes receives 20 calls a day from people who would like to donate. “We get donations from local businesses, too,” Berry noted, including American Freight and Johnny’s Mattress & Furniture Superstore.
For those interested in donating items, call Berean at 419-756-3300. “We’ll take anything that people give us,” Giesige said. To make a request, call Love INC at 419-522-1431. Requests are met on a first-come, first-served basis.
Giesige also noted that the ministry is currently in need of volunteers. If interested, call 419-756-3300.
The furniture ministry makes about 25-50 deliveries a week, Giesige said, and people sometimes pick up items for themselves. “We mostly deliver because we want to be able to let people know that Jesus is here and to present the Gospel to them,” Giesige said.
Through their efforts, many have come to know Christ, he said.
Berry described one instance in which a widow wanted to donate items and asked for assistance with moving the rest of her belongings to her new home because she didn’t have any friends or family to help. The ministry was able to help the widow, who later got plugged into a small group at Berean and “is finding joy in the Lord again that she didn’t have,” Berry said.
“From this ministry, there are probably 20 or 30 people that are active in our church now,” Giesige said.
And yet, “People don’t have to visit our church; we just want them to get connected to Jesus,” added Berry.
Berry commended Giesige and other furniture ministry volunteers for all of their work toward helping make the ministry successful. He voiced his appreciation for their sacrifice, saying, “This [ministry] is virtually self-supporting in the sense that they burn their own money through their gas tanks.”
“It’s through sacrifice, which is why I think God honors it,” Berry said. He added, “There have been plenty of challenges, but there have also been many blessings along the way.”
